Pitt women's volleyball upsets No. 3 Minnesota, advances to NCAA Regional finals for 1st time
Pitt’s historic women’s volleyball season continues.
The No. 19-ranked Panthers rallied from a 2-1 deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Minnesota in the NCAA Regional semifinals Sunday at CHI Health Center Omaha Convention Center & Arena in Omaha, Neb.
Pitt (19-4) advances to NCAA Regional final for the first time in program history.
THE ????? MOMENT.#H2P | #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/WsrVAF6Wzv
— Pitt Volleyball (@Pitt_VB) April 18, 2021
“We’re thrilled over here,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said. “It’s a huge moment for our program. It’s a huge moment in these girls’ lives. We’re excited for an opportunity to keep it going.”
PITT DOES IT!!!! ? @Pitt_VB continues to make history and advances to the first quarterfinal appearance in program history after stunning (3) Minnesota in five sets (21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11).#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/np14Seoud7
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) April 18, 2021
Pitt will play the winner of No. 11 Louisville and No. 6 Washington at noon Monday in Omaha, Neb.
Senior right-side hitter Chinaza Ndee had 19 kills, senior outside hitter Kayla Lund had 17 kills and sophomore middle blocker Chiamaka Nwokolo added 13 kills for the Panthers.
“Kayla and Chi looked like two of the best players in the country tonight,” Fisher said. “In these matches, we’re going to have to rely on them a lot, but I thought we got a little bit of a surprise performance from Chiamaka. I think she was totally unstoppable.”
Redshirt senior setter Kylee Levers (Chartiers-Houston) had 33 assists, and sophomore setter Lexis Akeo added 27. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Valeria Vazquez Gomez had 17 digs. Redshirt senior hitter Zoi Faki had three service aces.
“The work we put into training is a reason to trust we can hang with teams like this,” Ndee said. “I think that really helped us going into this game, knowing we could compete.”
Minnesota won the first set 25-21 before Pitt tied the match by winning the second set 25-23. Minnesota won 25-20 in Set 3, but Pitt answered by winning the fourth set 25-21.
The Panthers then clinched the victory by winning the fifth set 15-11.
“We’ve bought into being really grateful for every single second that we have together and being adaptable and being gritty,” Ndee said. “We could have given up after we lost the first set. We dug our heels in and said, ‘We’re going to take this all the way to the end.’ ”
Pitt split its regular-season ACC meetings with Louisville, winning 3-0 on Oct. 23 and falling 3-1 on Oct. 25.
“We’re a completely different team (than we were in the fall),” Lund said. “They’re obviously a really great team. We always root for the ACC once we get to the tournament. I think it will be a really fun matchup, whoever who we play.”
? REGIONAL SEMIFINALS HIGHLIGHTS: @Pitt_VB defeats @GopherVBall, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11).#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/sTzjP9Yrgm
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) April 18, 2021
Making history and moving on! ?#NCAAVB x @Pitt_VB pic.twitter.com/DT7SVpgccy
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) April 18, 2021
BIG TIME NDEE!!!@NdeeChinaza showed out for @Pitt_VB, smashing 1️⃣9️⃣ kills in the Panthers' massive upset of (3) Minnesota.#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/ZWluODkz7H
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) April 18, 2021
Dance on, @Pitt_VB! ?#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/KIQdOsAZmn
— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) April 18, 2021
Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.
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